Sign and suspension apparatus for a sulky harness

ABSTRACT

A sign and suspension apparatus for mounting to a harness for a carriage such as a sulky. The apparatus includes a sign that is secured by first and second attachment elements which extend from a back portion of the sign outwardly beyond upper and lower edges thereof to points of connection with the harness. A separate security attachment element is secured through a conduit at the rear of the sign and is selectively connected to a point of attachment with the harness.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a suspension device for a sign adaptedto be fastened onto a carriage, e.g. a sulky or similar being by meansof thills attached within a harness.

2. Brief Description of the Related Art

During sulky sport competitions it is a well known problem for thespectator to see and distinguish the number of the competing carriage.Many attempts with signs have been made, which failed. The spectatorsneed a sign well attached with an easily readable number to distinguishthe carriages. The carriages need a durable sign being easily attachableto the equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a sign and suspension apparatuswhich is adapted to securely mount the sign to the harness of a sulky.The sign includes a front number display portion and a rear portion andupper and lower edges. The suspension device includes first and secondattachment elements which are connected to the back of the sign andwhich extend outwardly beyond the upper and lower edges thereof towardpoints of connection with an upper portion of a harness and a lowerportion of a harness. At least one of the attachment elements isadjustable to ensure that the sign is tightly secured to the harness.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a security connectingelement, such as a cord, is mounted through a tube mounted on the rearportion of the sign and includes an outer end which is selectivelyengaged at a point of connection with the harness.

Also, in the preferred embodiment, quick release snap hooks, or similarconnectors, are used to secure each of the suspension elements to theharness.

Thus, the main object of the invention is to provide a device forattaching a sign onto to the horses harness, to visualize, which numberthe carriage in question has in the sulky sport competitions, the devicecomplying with the demands stated above.

The object is achieved in that the suspension device is provided withthe characteristics specified in the claims to follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described herein below in more detail inconnection with the drawing.

FIG. 1 shows an end view of the sign attachment on the side of theharness,

FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of the sign in relation to the horse,

FIG. 3 shows the sign attachment to the harness on both sides of theharness.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The sign consists of a thin or panel 16 in a composite material. Toachieve the possibly best durability and resilience 900 g of glassfibres were used in composition with 3×300 glass fibre tissues of aspecial polyester with the product number 48 M85. The surface was coatedwith an ENGA-gel coating, and an antireflecting creformer with theproduct number 10-80 makes the sign resilient. The number is encased andformed within the gel coating or the sign is also alternatively adaptedfor attaching the number and/or the background by means of a film or isalternatively directly screen printed onto the sign. The sign isattached by means of a three point method, a band 15 being attached to aring on the upper part of the harness 17 with a definite length and aband 14 to a ring on be attached to the lower part of the harness 17.This band 14 is also adjustable to different sizes of the harness 17.The third band is a cord 13 attached between the sign 16 and the harness17 as a security device to prevent any other parts to loosen. The bands14, 15 are attached by means of snap hooks to the harness 17 and withplate buckles on the backside of the sign. The position of the signrelative to a sulky thill 18 and the harness is shown clearly in FIG. 2.The security cord 13 is running within a pipe 21 on the backside of thesign to achieve an easy replacement of the cord 13. The buckles and thepipe 21 are plasticized onto the backside of the sign 16 by means of amixture of lime, glass fibres and glass fibre tissues with the productnumber 48 M85. The plasticize attachment for the buckle for the bands14, 15 are shown at 20a and 20b. The mixture of glass fibres and limeprovides the possibility to use it as a putty to smoothen the surface.The mixture can also withstand the resilience of the sign.

The embodiments here shown and described provide obviously only anexample of the realization of the invention and changes might beprovided within its scope. Thus, anyone of the bands 14, 15 might beadjustable, and the devices such as snap hooks 11a, 11b or 12 for anattachment to the carriage harness may be of any type whatsoever,preferably of a quick-coupling type. Moreover, other materials might beused than the stated ones to achieve an attachment of the buckles andthe security cord to the backside of the sign.

I claim:
 1. A sign and suspension apparatus for a harness associatedwith a sulky having thills which are connectable to the harness, theapparatus comprising: a sign panel having front and rear portions andupper and lower edges, a suspension means connectable to said sign panelto upper and lower portions of the harness, said suspension meansincluding first and second attachment elements, at least one of saidfirst and second attachment elements being adjustable in length, meansfor connecting said first and second attachment elements to the rearportion of said panel in spaced relationship to one another, said firstattachment element being extendable beyond said upper edge of said paneland including a first connector adapted to connect said first attachmentelement to the upper portion of the harness and said second attachmentelement extending outwardly beyond said lower edge of said panel andincluding a second connector adapted to connect said second attachmentelement to the lower portion of the harness.
 2. The sign and suspensionapparatus of claim 1, including a conduit attached to said rear portionof said panel, a security cord extending through said conduit andextending rearwardly of said panel, and third connector means adapted toconnect said security cord to the harness.
 3. The sign and suspensionapparatus of claim 2 in which said first, second and third connectorsare quick connect couplings.
 4. The sign and suspension apparatus ofclaim 1 in which said first and second connectors are quick connectcouplings.
 5. The sign and suspension apparatus of claim 2 in which saidmeans for connecting said first and second attachment elements to saidrear portion of said panel includes plasticizing a first end of each ofsaid attachment elements into said rear portion of said panel usingglass fiber tissue.
 6. The sign and suspension apparatus of claim 5wherein said panel is coated with a non-reflecting material.
 7. The signand suspension apparatus of claim 1 in which said means for connectingsaid first and second attachment elements to said rear portion of saidpanel includes plasticizing a first end of each of said attachmentelements into said rear portion of said panel using glass fiber tissue.8. The sign and suspension apparatus of claim 1 in which said panel iscoated with a non-reflecting material.